Flap-supporting structure for desks



Oct. 28; 1930. I VAN SCIVER 1,779,543

G STRUCTURE FOR DESKS Filed Nov. 15, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 28, 1930. VAN sc v R 1,279,648

FLAP SUPPORTING STRUCTURE FOR DESKS Filed Nov. 15, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 28, 1930. v VAN SCIVER 1,779,648

i ,porting'deskiflaps Wheni'n obenposition and Patented Qct. 28, 1930 My invention relates to devices fotfsup A ii the ,1? Kn w 1s to accommodate Se o intil'idetislittle as'fpo'ssible within the writing spzice'of the' end desk.

'Aiu h' m pce e e' epee ing leverfend: its attaehihgfc'onneetions 1n the zi or thef'deis'ku which it might be aigplied'fseieetinga form which is prectieelfeffeetive; iii' up pliiizition' to" the desks 'andtquit'einexpensive and Whichgit the, same L'tifne' Well illust're'tes j'plesinvolvedq Fgure 11 'is' a perspective V ew; partly e -0r a ertidni o j ige re 1. iFiuures S andgtare Vert cal sections of;

L member seen in ments of'palrts of the construetron seen in ;Figures 1 and 2 orwill close to the; position eenin Figure 4. W hen the desk is' open it is yer-y Y desirable-to reinforce :the hinge sup 1 port by asustaining bar 12 Whichis'auton'1;atioa11y thrown out' benealth thefiap byoperetion'of'parts attachedto the flap. tofthe "construction of the desk andfiap :a's'ti a d l lan d to the desk Iby a strapv lb; The

strap-14L is convenientlyused also as wpivfetal attachment-point116 for a thrust rodl'l' Whieh is connected through asbraeketl8 with the-barlZ tdperinit 'moveinent ofthe bracket 18 Within itgSo-thzttftheopening and closing ofthedesk causes movement of the bracket 18: toward th'efljfront oritoward -the rear, respectively, with consequent eutolnatic movement of the lgber glQi to e'position in which its front end jextends beneathfthe' openingflap or to 'a' bar position in 'ivhich the "front end is retraoted with'i nlthedesk and'thus' con oesiled, as seen in s 'thus fer described thestruetureis broad- [y many inventorshhvving' jt'ovibledsome attachment eaeh of a bar similar-to l7 tofithe flzipwitheonsequent withdrawal of a supporting bar to its positionbeneeth the openthe hingemelnbers' his been-used to. support the iiivotoi'or a bar. similar to halal? the hinge 7 member used has been in the'form 01f aflehan- 'IIlBlIWhih is adapted .t0;fit Within agroo've in the. flzip oftheidek breaking up; the 1 otherflamed nvpl ing he .wQ ik'Q q it a elkilliful niztkerun cuttlngend fin shing of the yh enel a; jd le t 'une ei d o .e side. Thls has been an ex'p'en'slveloperet on,

;not only ithout correspondi benefit but {he rearportion ofthe desk is slotted 2117.19

" o'la'eing the, hinge member from within the body of the table portion of the flap.

By locating the member 14: at the edge I am able to use an angle construction instead of requiring the channeled construction of the prior art and locate the member 15 within the extreme side edge of the desk space where it is concealed as much as possible by the side desk members and 20.

In applying my invention to the flap I cut the groove 21 in the edge of the flap to some such point as 22 corresponding in its distance from the hinge to the length of the strip 23 which is connected to hinge member 14. This strip is preferably made from an angle rather than from a channel for the reasons merely that the two flanges 2G and 2% comprising the base parallel to the face of the flap and a flange at an angle thereto respectively are sufficient to finish the two edges 25 and 27 formed within the inner edge of the end of the flap by cutting the groove along this edge, rendering the additional side of the channel unnecessary and because the additional (third) portion of the channel would detract.

from the appearance. The lateral wood edges 25 and the wood edges 27 parallel to the 'face of the flap arenot only protected from mechanical injury by the flanges 24 and 26 of the strip, but are screened from view by these flanges so that these wood edges of the groove.

need not be finished.

By this construction but one lateral edge of the cut is bordered by the flap face (as distinguished from two such edges where the channel is to be seated in a groove) and the position of this edge laterally of the flap need not be as accurately set where it represents the side edge line of the flap as is the case where it is the edge of one side of a groove whose total groove width must exactly match a channel width.

By making the thrust rod 17 rectangular I am able to use it to fill up the space within the angle so that the angle and the bar together completely fill the space within the edge of the flap from which wood of the flap V has been cut away.

With my construction it is still necessary to cut grooves 28 in the desk surface but these grooves also are cut in the inner edge of the extreme ends of the table portions of the desk. Strips 29 are secured within these grooves and are connected with the opposite side of the hinge from that side with which strips 15 are connected. I

The strips 29 are also most desirably angles 7 since there are but two faces of the grooves 28 to be protected. Angle flanges 3O protect the outwardly facing lateral surfaces 81 of the grooves and flanges 32 protect the up wardly facing surfaces 83 of the grooves.

The ends 20 and 20 form the outer limits of.

these grooves and require no protection.

the groove only as in the front portion of the desk table edge. The outer walls of the slots 1 9 are thus also formed by the ends 20 and 20 which require no additional finish.

. I thus secure unusual beauty of appearance and neatness with a minimum of work and of interference with the writing surface of the flap and desk table. The smaller amount of work required can be performed by operators having less skill than that required for fitting channels into the slots of the prior construction and the appearance of the flap and desk is much improved by the concealment of the mechanism within theibody of the desk.

Thestrips 23 and 29 form casings for the cut wooden edges which receive the thrust bar. Their rigidity with the two parts of the hinges is preferably secured by making them nitegral with therespective hinge parts.

In view of my invention and disclosure variations and modifications to meet individual whim or particular need will doubtless become evident to others skilled in the art. to obtain part or all of the benefits of my invention without copying the structure shown, and I, therefore, claim all such in so far as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters 1 Patent is 2- 1. A desk, a flap hinged thereto and having a groove along each end at the inner edge of the flap, hinges forthe flap, ametal casing for each groove covering the two otherwise exposed surfacesof the material of the flap, each supporting one end of the corresponding hinge, means for attaching the second end of each hinge to the desk table, a thrust rod pivoted at one end to the casing, a supporting bar for the flap and connections between the other end. of the thrust rod and the supporting bar to operate the bar with movement of the flap.

2. A desk, aflap adapted to fold against the front of the desk and having grooves along theinner edges at the extreme ends of the flap, angles, one protecting the two faces of each groove, each secured to the flap, hinges for the flap, one member of each secured to an angle, and bars adapted to move in for concealment within the desk and out for support of the flap and thrust rods, pivotally connected to the flap at one end and connected with the barsthrough the surface of the table of the desk at the other end to automatically shift the bars to the supporting and concealed positions.

3. In a desk flap support, a desk having ends extend ng above the table of'the desk, the table being grooved in the front part at the ends of the upper edges and having openings through the table in the rear part of the desk close to the ends, bars adapted to move position, thrust rods pivotally connectedvvith the bars to move the bars, a flap adapted to close the front of the desk and to open, the

inner edges of the ends of the flap being grooved, metallic strips pivoted to the other ends of the respective thrust rods, covering the side and bottom faces of the edge grooves and secured to the fia a, one member of each hinge being rigid with respect to one of the metallic strips, and other metallic strips rigid With respect to the other hinge members and fitting and covering the bottom and one side each of the grooves in the front of the desk table at the'ends.

a. In a desk flap support, a desk having Q ends extending above the table of the desk,

the table being grooved in the front'part at the ends of the upper edges and having openings through the table in the rear part of the desk close to the ends, barsadaptedto move parallel With the ends beneath the desk table and closely adjacent the ends for concealment in one position and flap support in another position, thrust rods pivotally connected at one end of each With one of the bars to move the bars, a flap adapted to close the front of the desk and open, the inner edges of the ends of the flap being grooved, metallic strips pivoted to the other ends of the respective thrust rods and having bases and flanges covering the bottom and side faces of the edge grooves and secured to the flap and one member of each hinge being formed by a flange of one of the strips and other metallic strips having flanges forming the other members of the hinges and fitting and covering the bottom and one side each of the grooves in the fron of the desk table at the ends.

LLOYD VAN soivER. 

